Bears Narrowly Fall to #18 Wake Forest, 4-3

Mar 22, 2009

March 22, 2009

PROVIDENCE, RI - The Brown men's tennis team (14-5) came up just short of upsetting #18 Wake Forest, as the Bears fell, 4-3, to the Demon Deacons. The match was close throughout, with several matches going to three sets, as the Bears faced the #1 doubles team in the country and the #26-ranked singles player.

The Bears opened the match by taking an extremely tight doubles point. After seniors Noah Gardner (Cambridge, MA) and Sam Garland (Bradenton, FL) dropped a close, 8-5, decision at #1 doubles to the top-ranked team in the country, the Bears battled back at #2 and #3 to take the point and go ahead in the match, 1-0.

Sophomores Charlie Posner (Cambridge, MA) and Kendrick Au (St. John's, NF) at #3 and senior Chris Lee (Sudbury, MA) and sophomore Jonathan Pearlman (New York, NY) at #2 were both down match point in their respective matches. However, the Bears showed their resiliency and battled back to take both matches by a 9-8 score with Posner and Au finishing first and then Lee and Pearlman clinching the point for Brown.

Pearlman fell to #26 Cory Parr at #1 singles in straight sets, tying the score at 1-1, but Lee claimed a thrilling three-set win (6-4, 6-7 (10), 7-5) at #2 singles to regain the lead for Brown.

A loss by junior Nathaniel Gorham (Lol Altos Hills, CA) at #3 in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)) tied the score at 2-2 and then Wake Forest went ahead, 3-2, with a win at #4 singles. The Demon Deacons clinched the win with a victory at #6, but Au closed the match for Brown with another three-set win at #5 for the 4-3 final.